bauenvsbautWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“bauen” and “baut” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,315
“bauen” frequency rank
#3,357
“baut” frequency rank
4672
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bauen baut
Definition etwas errichten, herstellen (Gebäude, Straßen und Ähnliches) 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bauen

Where the eye mixes bauen and baut

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
bauen
4 ch
baut

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. bauen ([ˈbaʊ̯ən]) and baut ([baʊ̯t]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4672, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bauen is recorded at frequency rank #1,315, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbaʊ̯ən]. baut is at rank #3,357, tagged as averb, pronounced [baʊ̯t].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 4672, this pair ranks #1,997,049 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bauen vs baut

Shared letters: abu. Private to "bauen": en. Private to "baut": t.

"bauen" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC  ·  "baut" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bauenabuen · baeun · bauenn · baune · bbauen · buaen
  • bautabut · batu · bautt · bbaut · buat

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bauen" and "baut" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbaʊ̯ən] versus [baʊ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bauen" or "baut"?
"bauen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,315 in our German list, against #3,357 for "baut". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "bauen" and "baut". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bauen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "baut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,997,049 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bauen" and "baut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bauamt vs baut". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list